‘Resident Evil’ Just Overtook a Gaming Giant in a Franchise Ranking Few Saw Coming

For years, video game adaptations were treated like a punchline in Hollywood. Since its 2002 debut, the ‘Resident Evil’ movie franchise has been largely lampooned by critics, yet it has remained the highest-grossing series of video game movies. That contradiction has defined the brand for decades: audiences kept showing up even when reviewers didn’t.

The last time Sony tried to reset the series, it did not go well. 2021’s ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’ opened to just $5.3 million in the early days of the pandemic and went on to earn only $41.9 million worldwide. At that point, it looked like the franchise’s theatrical moment had passed.

Then Zach Cregger stepped in. His ‘Resident Evil’ topped the North American box office with a franchise-best $60 million debut, while overseas ticket sales added $48.3 million for a $108.3 million global launch. The previous domestic opening record belonged to ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife,’ which debuted to $26.6 million in 2010.

The reviews helped it, too. The film holds a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the highest-rated ‘Resident Evil’ movie ever. It also arrived with a reported production budget of $75 million, far above the $25 million spent on ‘Welcome to Raccoon City.’

Now that momentum has produced a milestone that goes beyond a single film. According to Global Box Office, Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ has officially pushed the franchise past ‘Pokémon’ to become the second highest-grossing film franchise based on video games. The post’s ranking puts ‘Super Mario’ on top at $2.4 billion, followed by ‘Resident Evil’ at $1.66 billion, ‘Pokémon’ at $1.5 billion and ‘Sonic’ at $1.2 billion.

The climb was steady, and it kept going well after opening weekend. The film became the first in the series to pass $100 million domestically, doing so in two weeks. It later grossed $320.2 million worldwide, passing the $312 million of ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’ to become the highest-grossing entry in franchise history.

International markets played a major role. China opened on October 5 and Japan followed on October 9, and both territories have delivered enormous business for the franchise in the past. Global Box Office reported that the film crossed $300 million worldwide after a $40 million-plus opening week in China.

It is also a career-defining moment for Cregger himself. Deadline projected that the film would pass ‘Weapons,’ which earned $270 million worldwide, as his highest-grossing movie. That is quite a jump for a filmmaker whose breakout was a sleeper hit, since ‘Barbarian’ grossed over $46 million on a budget under $5 million.

None of this closes the distance to Nintendo’s plumber just yet. ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ alone grossed $1.36 billion worldwide. ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ has since earned more than $1 billion on its own. Passing ‘Pokémon’ is a big achievement, but the top spot is a very different challenge.

Still, the broader story is hard to ignore. As of October 11, the film holds a 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, edging out the 93% of ‘Obsession,’ one of 2026’s best-reviewed horror hits. A franchise once dismissed as critic-proof now has the acclaim to match its box office, and that may be the most surprising twist of all.